Saline

Chapter Five: Team Seven

Chapter Five: Team Seven

Hitomi’s headband weighed heavily on her head. When before she was proud to wear the ensemble of the Leaf Village, there was nothing left but dread. Regret. Naruto, however, could not have more ecstatic.

“You’re back!” He sung. “You’re back, you’re back, you’re back!”

“I never left,” she said, shrugging him off her shoulder. Naruto clung to her, however, drawing her deeper into the streets of Konoha, where Hitomi was forced to wear her shame for all to see. There were whispers amongst the village at the sight of her, Naruto clutching on her arm. But he was too loud for her to hear what they were saying.

“But you’re a ninja, again! That means you can train with me, now!” Hitomi didn’t dare tell him that she never actually stopped being a ninja and that it was her own choice not to train. She simply did not have the energy to.  

The Hokage had listened intently to her story, questioning nothing she told him. He trusted her, fully. And for some reason, that made Hitomi feel like a liar.

Naruto continued pulling until they reached Ichiraku, his favorite ramen shop, where they met with the rest of his teammates. Hitomi tried to ignore the empty feeling in her chest.

This was supposed to be a celebration.

Hitomi was reinstated as a kunoichi of her class. And in still being a genin, would be a stand-in teammate for whenever she was needed. Someone to pass along to the other genin teams until she gained more experience. Or until they knew what was to do with her.

This did not feel like a celebration.

Her first mission was to be with Team Seven.

This felt more like a death sentence.

The first thing she saw when she pushed through the entrance of Ichiraku was Sakura’s pretty pink hair and her glowing green eyes, her plump lips pulled into the widest of smiles. It tore at Hitomi’s existence. “Hitomi!” Her hair was long, just shades lighter than Mana’s. Tears welled in her eyes, but she forced herself to smile, regardless. “I haven’t seen you since we graduated! How have you been?” Awful. Anxiety-stricken. Sick. Hitomi knew none of these were acceptable answers. Sakura’s inquiry was that of a polite gesture; she did not care to hear how she reminded Hitomi of Mana, or how her eyes were the same shade of green as Kin’s.

“I’m fine. How have you been?” Small talk. Polite. Polite. Polite.

They chatted for awhile, Kakashi cutting in only to introduce himself. A liltingly interesting man with a shock of white hair and a false cheer. Hitomi wondered if he could sense the same falseness in her.

Sasuke Uchiha was the last to introduce himself, offering no fake smiles nor unwelcomed handshakes, for which Hitomi was grateful for. He simply nodded his head and she did the same in return.

The meal was simple. Sakura and Naruto chatted away happily, sometimes being able to engage Kakashi in conversation—forcibly dragging Sasuke in every now and again. Hitomi felt completely secluded.

These were not her teammates. Her teammates were dead. And this open display did nothing but remind her of such. As painfully as one could imagine. Hitomi wondered how much more of this she could take.

Naruto is shameless. The only word that Hitomi could think of to describe him. Shameless. The only word appropriate for a situation as such.

“I am a ninja! I will be the Hokage one day, old man! Give me a real mission!” A child, perhaps. Who is not getting his way. Ill-tempered child throwing a tantrum, screaming at the top of his lungs at the Hokage. Iruka-sensei is mortified.

“Naruto—!” He scolds, but is immediately cut off by the Hokage.

“I don’t see any harm in giving them a higher ranked mission, Iruka. C-Ranked mission will do them just fine.”

“But they’re just genin!” Iruka protested.

She could no longer hear their banter over Naruto’s elation.

Training isn’t the same. And though Hitomi only ever got to train with Team Thirteen but once, she cant help but to feel a longing for her teammates as she trains with Team Seven. They are to leave early the next morning, to escort a bitter old bridge builder with a foul mouth and a bad attitude. Someone whom, upon meeting Naruto, has already gotten into a squalor with him. They leave early the next morning and yet, she trains.

Hitomi has now spent most of her day at the training grounds, spending tireless hours working on perfecting her chakra control and aim. Hours she should have spent in preparation for her mission—her first actual mission. She supposes she’s supposed to be excited. She’s not.

And, in all truths, nothing seems to really excite Hitomi anymore.

Her body is worn. And she knows that if Kakashi-sensei finds her now, she’d probably be in trouble. But training is the only thing capable of clearing Hitomi’s mind. And lately, her mind’s been filled with a lot.

Mana. Kin. Kazue.

It’s always the same. The thoughts. The nightmares. She can’t get rid of them—and she’s tried. But it seems the more she tries, the harder it is to forget about them.

“She’s not even apart of this team!” The shrill voice snaps Hitomi out of her reverie, dropping her kunai in surprise. She didn’t suspect anyone else would be out here so late. “There’s no sense in including her in Team Seven activity—she doesn’t belong with us!” Sakura’s voice is distinguishable, making Hitomi’s heart drop. She is the only person Sakura could possibly be talking about.

“She is apart of this team!” Naruto shouts back. “Maybe not officially, but she is our teammate! Do not speak of Hitomi as though she’s below you!”

“Team Thirteen is dead,” comes Sasuke’s cool voice. “She is their lone survivor.”

“That’s curious, don’t you think?” hisses Sakura.